Mavic Cosmic Carbone Ultimate

[[email protected]]

Has anyone had any experiences with the Mavic Carbone Ultimate wheels.
I was thinking of getting a pair, but having non-replaceable spokes
with no truing adjustment makes quite nervous. There always is that
one really bad pothole that is unavoidable.

 

[Ewoud Dronkert]

[email protected] schreef:
> nervous. There always is that
> one really bad pothole that is unavoidable.

So? As long as your team is paying I wouldn't worry.


--
E. Dronkert

 

[[email protected]]

On Aug 6, 12:17 pm, Ewoud Dronkert <[email protected]>
wrote:
> [email protected] schreef:
>
> > nervous. There always is that
> > one really bad pothole that is unavoidable.
>
> So? As long as your team is paying I wouldn't worry.
>
> --
> E. Dronkert

Don't I wish I had a team to pay for a $3000 set of wheels. I live in
San Diego and the roads were in very good condition. There were so few
potholes that I used to know where most of them were. Today the roads
are so torn up that if you take your eyes off the road for a minute
you will end up hitting a big pothole. One big problem is that the
city does not have a quality assurance program for roadwork. It's
really gotten bad with all the contractors that the utilities and the
city hires. The other big problem is that the repairs are not
coordinated. Awhile back I can remember how smooth the road was after
it was just resurfaced. About a week later SDG&E started tearing up
the road.

LA & Caltrans has a much better system. Caltrans has a materials
requirements program for all roadwork done. Whenever a repair is done
to the road in a LA a brass ring is placed with the date and name of
the contractor. If the repair goes bad within 2 years they are
required to fix it.

 

[RicodJour]

On Aug 6, 3:07 pm, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Has anyone had any experiences with the Mavic Carbone Ultimate wheels.
> I was thinking of getting a pair, but having non-replaceable spokes
> with no truing adjustment makes quite nervous. There always is that
> one really bad pothole that is unavoidable.

My experience, as in most things in that rarefied price range, is
purely intellectual - you know, reading about 'em. The Mavic rear is
tweakable to some extent, but not the front. Mavic also offers an
insurance policy of sorts for about 10% of the cost of the wheels.

I think you should get them.

R

 

[Dan Connelly]

RicodJour wrote:
> On Aug 6, 3:07 pm, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Has anyone had any experiences with the Mavic Carbone Ultimate wheels.
>> I was thinking of getting a pair, but having non-replaceable spokes
>> with no truing adjustment makes quite nervous. There always is that
>> one really bad pothole that is unavoidable.
>
> My experience, as in most things in that rarefied price range, is
> purely intellectual - you know, reading about 'em. The Mavic rear is
> tweakable to some extent, but not the front. Mavic also offers an
> insurance policy of sorts for about 10% of the cost of the wheels.
>
> I think you should get them.
>
> R
>


Irony there?

You need to quantitatively evaluate what you think they will do for you relative to other options.

For example, if a pair of wheels saves 200 grams relative to another, and if you climb a 1 km hill, and your total bike + rider is 85 kg, the wheels will save around 2 meters, assuming 90% of energy loss is mass-proportional.

2 meters could break your race. Then again, if you start the hill one spot higher in the paceline, that has the same effect.

Dan

 

[RicodJour]

On Aug 6, 5:17 pm, Dan Connelly <d_j_c_o_n_n_e_l@y_a_h_o_o_._c_o_m>
wrote:
> RicodJour wrote:
> > On Aug 6, 3:07 pm, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >> Has anyone had any experiences with the Mavic Carbone Ultimate wheels.
> >> I was thinking of getting a pair, but having non-replaceable spokes
> >> with no truing adjustment makes quite nervous. There always is that
> >> one really bad pothole that is unavoidable.
>
> > My experience, as in most things in that rarefied price range, is
> > purely intellectual - you know, reading about 'em. The Mavic rear is
> > tweakable to some extent, but not the front. Mavic also offers an
> > insurance policy of sorts for about 10% of the cost of the wheels.
>
> > I think you should get them.
>
>
> Irony there?

None at all. I'm just supremely gifted at spending other people's
money. He's on the brink of getting them and I'm giving him a kick in
the pants. Least I can do.

R

 

[RonSonic]

On Mon, 06 Aug 2007 15:00:12 -0700, RicodJour <[email protected]> wrote:

>On Aug 6, 5:17 pm, Dan Connelly <d_j_c_o_n_n_e_l@y_a_h_o_o_._c_o_m>
>wrote:
>> RicodJour wrote:
>> > On Aug 6, 3:07 pm, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> >> Has anyone had any experiences with the Mavic Carbone Ultimate wheels.
>> >> I was thinking of getting a pair, but having non-replaceable spokes
>> >> with no truing adjustment makes quite nervous. There always is that
>> >> one really bad pothole that is unavoidable.
>>
>> > My experience, as in most things in that rarefied price range, is
>> > purely intellectual - you know, reading about 'em. The Mavic rear is
>> > tweakable to some extent, but not the front. Mavic also offers an
>> > insurance policy of sorts for about 10% of the cost of the wheels.
>>
>> > I think you should get them.
>>
>>
>> Irony there?
>
>None at all. I'm just supremely gifted at spending other people's
>money. He's on the brink of getting them and I'm giving him a kick in
>the pants. Least I can do.

Besides, how'll we ever know how those things are in real life without someone
shelling out some cash. His cash.

Myself, I never buy bleeding edge technology, I'm the 3rd, 4th generation guy at
soonest. Usually I wait until it's blister packed, which one day these
unadjustable CF wheels will be. Until then it's up to someone else to keep the
technology alive and deal with bugs and beta testing so that the technology is
sufficiently refined, inexpensive and familiar enough for me to shell out my
cash for one day.

In the meanwhile, RJ, you're doing the lord's work here, keep on with the
encouragements.

Ron

 

[Howard Kveck]

In article <[email protected]>,
"[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Has anyone had any experiences with the Mavic Carbone Ultimate wheels.
> I was thinking of getting a pair, but having non-replaceable spokes
> with no truing adjustment makes quite nervous. There always is that
> one really bad pothole that is unavoidable.

Have you checked out the Reynolds wheels? The DV46UL is only 20 grams per set
heavier than the Carbone Ultimate and the spokes are adjustable front and back. I got
a chance to demo a set of the standard DV46C earlier this year and liked them a lot.
They have very good vertical compliance (makes for a good, smooth ride) and good
lateral stiffness. Interestingly, in rough corners, they were very smooth rolling -
not choppy and prone to stuttering like some other stiff wheels. My one complaint was
the braking - when using the Zipp pads that Reynolds reccomended at that time, the
brakes would shriek as soon as you got on them. Very disturbing (or disquieting). The
problem was that the pads were actually becoming molten and bits of melted pad were
shooting out the front. They suggest going with the Swiss Stop pad now and say the
problem is solved.

http://www.reynoldscycling.com/products_wheels_dv46ul.html

Anyway, if you want to spend a metric buttload of sheckels on wheels, you could
get a set of the Reynolds rims and have them laced onto some DT 190 Ceramic hubs.

http://www.dtswiss.com/index.asp?fuseaction=hubs.bikedetail&id=37

--
tanx,
Howard

Never take a tenant with a monkey.

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?